Banking and Finance

Athens-Moscow-New York — Last Wednesday, Greek authorities finally caught international fugitive Alexander Vinnik, the leader of a massive Bitcoin laundering operation since 2011. Based in Russia, Vinnik is said to have laundered roughly $4 billion Bitcoins by running one of the most infamous cyber crime websites in the world. Bitcoin is the first cryptocurrency that employs hidden transactions through encryption, making it hard for traditional financial firms to regulate. The Russian suspect was captured following a slew of U.S. crack downs against Russian hackers, with authorities closing the AlphaBay dark web market last week. However, according to sources, there are […]

In a report last Monday, Singapore financial technology startup TenX has been converting digital currencies into spendable money that can be traded in the common market. The company makes this possible with help from Visa. TenX developed a platform that functions as a digital wallet linked to a Visa card. When a user swipes the card, the amount will simply be deducted from the crypto account. This is a forthcoming development as users and firms are opening up to use popular cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin for real payments. The payments are processed immediately without incurring any costs apart from a conversion […]

New York — According to a report last Saturday, Bitcoin was able to avoid a blockchain split following approval of the Bitcoin Improvement Proposal (BIP) 91 from traders and miners of the cryptocurrency. BIP 91 was met with approval by miners, a group that maintains the blockchain of public accounts for all Bitcoin transactions. Prior to its promotion, a number of traders were afraid the cryptocurrency might divide due to disputes between the miners and software developers. However, the two groups have reached an agreement. BIP 91 aims to upgrade Bitcoin with a software called SegWit2x to increase the system’s […]

As of Thursday, another high-profile cryptocurrency theft has been reported to have involved the loss of ethereum worth millions of dollars. According to coding firm Parity, attackers took advantage of a flaw in the cryptocurrency software to steal ethereum funds. The problem was found in wallet.sol, a multi-sig contract that stores ethereum. Reports say 3 wallets were hacked, losing a combined amount of over $31 million worth of ethereum. The attack occurred less than 2 days after another cryptocurrency heist took over the CoinDash website with attackers stealing $7.4 million worth of ethereum. Parity advises cryptocurrency traders to check their […]

Last Monday, cryptocurrency company Coindash told its investors that their website was hacked and their funds have been stolen. Reports say the incident is irreparable, and the company is no longer able to retrieve the money. The invested cash was redirected to the attacker’s address, when Coindash’s website address was compromised. It occurred within minutes just after the company’s fundraising event for Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs). Cryptocurrencies like Ethereum and bitcoin remain largely unregulated, with Initial Coin Offerings or ICO crowdfunding events generating millions of dollars which bring with it massive gains but at greater risk, especially now that market […]

Tokyo, Japan – Last Sunday, the Japan Cryptocurrency Business Association (JCBA) has created guidelines in anticipation for the possible Bitcoin network disturbance in August 1. The Nikkei Asian Review reported that JCBA is considering a bitcoin transaction freeze of one day up to one week, and have drafted the service suspension directives for all bitcoin users to safeguard businesses from legal consequences. According to Fisco data analyst Masayuki Tashiro, there is a possibility that records might become incorrect when crytocurrency traders make transactions. In response to the upcoming network disturbance, Tech Bureau and Bitbank announced that cryptocurrency exchanges will still […]

After the market’s considerable gains in the recent months, the value of cryptocurrency just dropped by around 50% last Sunday, having its total publicly traded value decreased by over $10bn. The drop occurred despite the. Cryptocurrency value has been reduced to 46.9% at $61bn, as recorded at press time over the course of more than 30 days. From a record peak in mid-June of $115bn, the market has now diminished dangerously based on gathered data by Coinmarketcap. Majority of the stricken cryptocurrencies, including XRP, ether, and those that run the Ripple Consensus Ledger and ethereum blockchain, have experienced an upsurge […]

Tirana, Albania – As of Sunday, the Central Bank of Albania released a strong statement warning people of the risks involved in trading with bitcoin and other digital currencies, cautioning the public that digital money is not subject to secure banking regulations. The bank also appealed for citizens to be wise and more responsible when it comes to their savings and investments, stressing the importance of choosing financial products that are monitored and authorized by the Financial Supervisory Authority and the central bank. Bitcoin’s decentralized banking features, as well as the anonymity it provides traders, has made it vulnerable to […]

Bitcoin is faced with an internal dispute over a software upgrade designed to improve the capacity of its increasingly congested network, according to a report last Friday. The disagreement may cause delays in payment processing, financial losses, and whipsawing prices. It could also mean no real changes happen when the upgrades take place. Bitcoin users and particularly “miners” are not in favor of the upgrade. Companies that maintain a group of miners think the new system could lower transaction fees, slashing their earnings. However, reformers behind the upgrade believe it brings new business opportunities with a faster, more reliable digital […]

Last Thursday, Kaspersky Lab’s released several fixes for the vulnerabilities of their ATM security software. The Kaspersky ATM antivirus had bugs that could be exploited to bypass the anti-malware protection in systems. The company responded immediately by releasing a patch, but the security updates will take a while to be installed in equipment around the globe. During an audit, researcher Georgy Zaytsev from Positive Technologies found a flaw in the Applications Launch Control of Kaspersky Embedded Systems Security 1.1 and 1.2. Kaspersky Lab spokesman El Reg responded to the findings, saying that the vulnerabilities detected by Positive Technologies does not […]

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This blog is the embodiment of a vision we have at Disini & Disini (D&D) of an IT empowered citizenry where we, as a people, harness information available through the internet to bridge the gaps where there may be lapses. As part of our advocacy, we take full advantage of the accessibility of cyberspace by developing this blog.